2.5 years into smart city plan, only 5% of projects finished

According to data presented by the housing and urban affairs ministry to the Rajya Sabha on January 4, 90 “smart cities” have identified 2,864 projectsRadheshyam Jadhav | TNN | January 10, 2018, 07:36 IST

File photoTwo-and-a-half years after PM Narendra Modi announced his government’s ambitious Smart City Mission, only 5.2% of the total identified projects have been completed with just 1.4% of the total envisaged investment of Rs 1,35,958 crore.

According to data presented by the housing and urban affairs ministry to the Rajya Sabha on January 4, 90 “smart cities” have identified 2,864 projects.

Of these, 148 projects worth Rs 1,872 crore have been completed. Work on another 407, accounting for about 14% of the total investment envisaged under the mission, has started. About 72% of the identified projects are still at the stage of preparation of detailed project report.

Of 90 cities that have approved smart city projects, only 31 have completed at least one. The New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) leads the chart with 23 completed projects, followed by Varanasi (16) and Raipur (10). Twenty-seven cities have not issued a single tender for works to be carried out under the mission.

Building smart cities was one of the major promises made by PM Modi in the runup to the 2014 Lok Sabha elections.

The duration of the mission is five years, from 2015-16 to 2019-20, as per the mission statement and guidelines.

After that, it may be continued in the light of an evaluation to be done by the government. The first lot of 20 cities was selected on January 1, 2016; subsequently, another 70 cities joined the list.

The Centre provides financial support of Rs 500 crore to each of the 90 cities and a matching contribution has to be provided by the respective state governments. Since the launch of the mission in June 2015, the Centre has released Rs 9,718.20 crore. Cities will have to raise the balance funds through their own resources or by imposing user charges.

However, many projects are stuck as local governing bodies are unable to raise money using their own resources.

Many cities are also facing resistance in execution of projects as citizens have opposed user charges for services provided under the mission.